His book '1421: The Year China Discovered the World' has sold 1 million copies in over 100 countries in 20 different languages. QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: Amateur historian Gavin Menzies is a wealthy man. In the true brotherhood of the sea, the great Lord Nelson would, I am sure, have endorsed the joint venture Phoenix Television have entered with ourselves. GAVIN MENZIES, AUTHOR: Where we stand is where Admiral Lord Nelson of the Nile lay in state after his great victory at Trafalgar in 1805, 400 years after Admiral Zheng He's first voyage.
With a frank disregard for modesty, Gavin Menzies delivered his speech in a place made sacred by the memory of Lord Nelson, invoking the English admiral's achievements to help sell his own commercial enterprise, the ongoing story of a Chinese admiral - Zheng He. QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: Three weeks ago a British former submarine commanding officer stepped inside the magnificent Painted Hall in London's Old Royal Naval College to announce his latest commercial venture. GAVIN MENZIES, AUTHOR: Ladies and gentlemen, first may I thank Phoenix Satellite Television Holdings Ltd for so kindly inviting the 1421 organisation to join in our expedition in pursuit of my opinion that the Chinese were the first to discover the New World. How the author, the agent and the publisher overturned orthodox scholarship in the pursuit of profit. QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: Tonight on Four Corners, a parable of popular culture. QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: But his book has sent established academics into apoplexy.įELIPE FERNANDEZ-ARMESTO, PROFESSOR OF HISTORY: It is almost without exception wrong, factually wrong, and the conclusions drawn from it are logically fallacious, I mean, they are the drivel of a two-year-old. GAVIN MENZIES, AUTHOR: I hope it will be the first joint effort by people all around the world to correct errors in history.
Mr Menzies is riding a new wave in publishing of populist books that challenge what we've been taught. His speech echoed the views of British author Gavin Menzies, whose book '1421: The Year China Discovered the World' has been a global success story. QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: The astonishing claim that Chinese mariners reached Australia 200 years before the 'Duyfken' was made to a joint session of Parliament by President Hu Jintao three years ago.
For centuries the Chinese sailed across vast seas and settled down in what was called the 'Southern Land' or today's Australia. HU JINTAO, CHINESE PRESIDENT: Back in the 1420s the expeditionary fleet of China's Ming Dynasty reached Australian shores.
Most scholars say it's the first recorded visit to Australia by seafarers from another country. QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: This year is the 400th anniversary of the historic voyage to Australia by the Dutch ship 'Duyfken'.
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